Yesterday was our annual luncheon to talk about opportunities and avenues for partnering to plant churches and multiply off-campus ministry on the Northshore. From my notes:

• North America is the only continent where Christianity is not growing.
• No county in America has a greater % of churched people today than 10 years ago.
• Since 1991, the number of adults in the US who do not attend church has nearly doubled.
• Missional affirmations by the LA Bapt Convention: “We believe the Biblical mandate to Make Disciples of All Nations is a call to plant multiplying churches among all people groups in Louisiana.” “We believe that planting indigenous, multiplying churches is the most effective strategy for making disciples and impacting lostness.”
• 1 out of every 2 Louisiana residents surveyed indicated no “personal relationship” with Jesus Christ.
• On the Northshore, population has grown 3 times as fast as church membership. Only 3.3% of the population attend a Southern Baptist Church on any given weekend. Less than 10% attend evangelical church of any kind. If we wanted to double that to 6.6% over the next 10 years we would need to add 16,000+ worshipers.
• Dr. David Hankins shared about the need for a paradigm shift in ministry mentality in North America and four unfounded fears that pastors have about Church Planting: 1) I’m going to lose members, 2) Will the new church remain baptist, 3) We can’t afford it, 4) I don’t have time. Eric Hankins writes about these four fears here.

If you’d like to get an info packet from the event or learn about some of the specific opps to partner in 2012, email me at lanecorley@gmail.com.